Why do we live so long?

[Dogs On Acid]

From a Biological and Evolutionary view, isn't it counter-productive?

The faster a species matures, breeds, and dies the better, as it allows faster adaptation to different environments.

Medicine has helped a great deal in prolonging life expectancy, but even without much medical intervention, what is the evolutionary advantage to live after menopause or heavy reduction in sperm count? By the time that happened our offspring are already matured and ready for reproduction.

[thefinalmarch]

Well, before we had drugs and proper sanitation, etc., etc., our life expectancy was a little over 20 or something to that effect. There isn't much of an evolutionary advantage at all in living to 80 and beyond that I can think of, besides having more individuals available to gather/harvest food (assuming we're talking about people a decade or two younger than 80 here) - although then that just means more [frail] bodies to feed. The point is, whilst there isn't much of an evolutionary or otherwise biological advantage to it, we're still capable of it and it doesn't seem to be drastically holding us back. We humans have been known to fuck around with nature's intended way of doing things.

[minimali]

We humans have been known to fuck around with nature's intended way of doing things.

[FONT=Verdana]We humans are nature's - everything we do is - evolution...it is, what it is…[/FONT]

[thefinalmarch]

[FONT=Verdana]We humans are nature's - everything we do is - evolution...it is, what it is…[/FONT]

I say 'nature' loosely here, like as in common vernacular. Don't lecture me.

[tracher999]

the only reason why we live so long is they wanna fuck with us fuck with nature with the animals fuck with ourselfs humans exist to fuck with everithing if they go
to other planets some time they fuck with that planet i hate the human rase
the most off the time i think by myself i dont belong by the human rase
i dont wanna be human most off the time

[Black Sheep]

Medicine has helped a great deal in prolonging life expectancy, but even without much medical intervention, what is the evolutionary advantage to live after menopause or heavy reduction in sperm count? By the time that happened our offspring are already matured and ready for reproduction.

Except in cases where one sacrifices herself to save the young, there's no evolutionary advantage in dying.Lack of food simply kills of the less adaptive, there's no need for a death-after-this-age gene(which would hinder a species if it eventually reached an environment with abundant nutrients).
Plus, the instinct of self-preservation.
Mind you,the life expectancy of early humanoids didn't exceed 30 years.


So yeah, sanitation, medicine, lots of food and technology magnifying production, these are reasons for the increase in life expectancy.

[Dogs On Acid]

Except in cases where one sacrifices herself to save the young, there's no evolutionary advantage in dying.

Death is necessary to prevent overpopulation.

We as a species are of the category "least concern".

Death, as a health indicator, is also an essential part of natural selection. Only individuals that can adapt the best to the environment live the longest, and hence are able to have more offspring. But after menopause/reduction in sperm count this is completely irrelevant and biologically post-menopausal individuals have no place in the cycle.

[jake williams]

Adults until about the age we do die - and actually, until some time after adults were likely to die - were net contributions in a survival sense to their communities. They could do work. That said, there are some societies that do kill weaker elders when resources are especially tight. In short, there aren't really selective pressures against surviving past sexual maturity, and actually some pressures in favour of doing so.

[Dogs On Acid]

But jammoe, we are talking genetics, not social construction.

[jake williams]

But jammoe, we are talking genetics, not social construction.

What?

There aren't selective pressures against longevity. Usually, living for some time past sexual maturity is a net benefit to the survivability of the community in which one lives, which means one's descendants. In those cases where it isn't, the society often acts in a way which means that there still isn't major selective pressure against longevity.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Because we are advanced enough that we don't need to worry about being chased at night by lions and cheetahs.